Alan Cumming has spoken out on the Baftas racial slur incident, calling it a “trauma-triggering s***show”.
Cumming, who hosted the ceremony, also issued an apology to Black people and the Tourette’s community for the onslaught of negative comments received in the wake of the controversy.
“We were all let down by decisions made to both broadcast slurs and censor free speech,” he said, in an apparent reference to the BBC’s decision to nix the “Free Palestine” portion of filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr’s speech on the night.
During the awards, Scottish campaigner John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome, shouted a racial slur while actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting an award. The slur was then included as part of the BBC’s broadcast, despite the fact it had been pre-recorded hours earlier.
The moment sparked widespread debate, with Davidson, whose life inspired the film I Swear, left “upset and distraught” by the situation as he was allegedly told that any offensive involuntary tics would be cut from the broadcast.
In a new Instagram post, Traitors US host Cumming wrote: “It’s now a week since I hosted the BAFTAs. What should have been an evening celebrating creativity as well as diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma-triggering s***show.”
He added: “I’m so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt hearing that word echoed round the world. I’m so sorry the [Tourette’s] community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition.”
It had been explained by Cumming at the live event that disturbances might occur due to Davidson’s involuntary tics. Later in the ceremony, after Davidson shouted the slur, Cumming briefly paused proceedings to apologise and thank the audience for their understanding.
Cumming said in his post that “the only possible good that could come of this is a reminder that words matter, that rushing to judgement about things of which we are not fully cognisant is folly, that all trauma must be recognised and honoured”.
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He continued: “Congratulations to all the artists whose work was overshadowed by the night’s events.”
Davidson suffers from coprolalia, a type of Tourette’s that involves involuntary swearing and/or making socially inappropriate remarks.
During the Baftas, he chose to leave the auditorium shortly after realising that Lindo and Jordan had heard his tic from the stage. Davidson noted that he involuntarily made several offensive remarks that were not only racial.
Following the event, a BBC spokesperson said: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it has been removed from BBC iPlayer.”
In an internal memo, BBC staff were also told that the slur had aired “in error” as producers had not heard the word, and that another had been cut from the broadcast.
Bafta also apologised, stating that a “comprehensive review” was underway and that they took “full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation”. They also apologised to Lindo and Jordan.
